Meet the Newtons:
Colin and Chris Newton.

Colin Newton is my husband. He completed a Bachelor of Engineering (civil) at Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane in 2000. This included an undergraduate thesis - "The Design and Construction of a Sustainable House Using Alternate and Recycled Building Materials". This sustainable house was designed for our own home on a property outside Beenleigh, SE Queensland.

Colin has been involved in the building industry as a structural draftsman since 1991 and has hands on building experience. It was a natural step to use his knowledge and experiences to owner build the Newton House. As a structural engineer he has been involved in the designing strawbale houses in SE Queensland and NSW over the past 8 years.

I took part in a straw bale workshop conducted by Peter Wade at Beenleigh in 1997. From there we built a straw bale wine cellar in the back yard of their previous property. The wine cellar was built above ground on the residential block next to the brick veneer house. They were impressed with the sustainable benefits of straw, its thermal performance, acoustics, and aesthetics.

From here we planned a sustainable home and lifestyle.

Committed to providing resources to others wishing to build with straw bale in Queensland.
- I taught a Adult Community Education Course with builder Ross in 2002-2004.
- I am now the president or AUSBALE - the Australian and New Zealand Straw Bale Association.
- I have also taken on the role as the Australian and New Zealand Foreign Corrospondant for "The Last Straw Journal"
- I provide presentations to the public and professionals on Sustainable Building and Straw Bale as a building option.

My spare time is spent accumulating a lot of knowledge on how to apply earth renders to straw bale houses for our local climate.

We do not believe that our home will be reproducible in the mainstream residential market, but instead aim to generate discussion and awareness of sustainable building and lifestyles. Our objective is to set an atmosphere for attitude change by community awareness, discussion and research.

You can Contact us through our E-mail email: Chris and Colin Newton